Letters to the Editor: ‘Passion will liberate our players to conquer France’

Letters to the Editor: ‘Passion will liberate our players to conquer France’

‘Rugby is psychological warfare. Do not underestimate its effect, not only on the Irish team but also on the Irish nation’ Photo: Reuters

The commentators behave like lemmings: running headlong into a sea of oblivion because of some poor performances by the Irish rugby team.

This is fixable: revert to Ireland’s dynamic carrying, as against the All Blacks last November and in their demolition of England at Twickenham to win the Grand Slam last year.

Rugby is psychological warfare. Do not underestimate its effect, not only on the Irish team but also on the Irish nation.

So, front up against the French at Lansdowne Road on Saturday week. Play in their faces, as against the All Blacks. It is not about skill. Ireland have that in abundance.

Johnny, forget the wrap-around for awhile and kick to the corners. You are becoming predictable when as a great world player you don’t need to be. Liberate your outstanding runners Earls, Stockdale and Ringrose.

You are a world-class team, notwithstanding the hopeless dirge ‘Ireland’s Call’ which, as I predicted in the Irish Independent last year, does you no favours, confers no dignity, inspires no passion. Your war cry should be Éireann Abú.

The Welsh understand this with their sublime ‘Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau’. The All Blacks understand that with the haka. Nothing is achieved without passion!

Ar aghaidh!

Maurice O’Callaghan

Stillorgan, Co Dublin

‘Full employment’ a myth and the media should give us facts

Would the media please stop saying we have “full employment” in this country? Full employment is a myth; the media are supposed to give us the facts, not myths.

There are still approximately 200,000 unemployed in this country, 79,010 of whom are suffering through long-term unemployment.

It may be “statistically true” but in terms of raw human suffering to say we are near “full employment” is a blatant lie. Unemployed people who participate in (so-called) “training” and “activation” schemes are counted as “employed” in the monthly employment statistics, even though they are not employed in any real sense.

“Activation” has traditionally been a great way for successive governments to massage the figures and that continues to be the practice of the current Government. This approach is obviously wrong and dishonest.

It is long past time the CSO, Government, economists and media took note of what’s happening in the real world.

Tim Buckley

White Street, Cork city

‘SSIA’ savings scheme looks like a con to help wealthy

At a time when many are worried at growing distributive injustice and inequity, Ibec proposes an instrument that acts as a conduit to redistribute the national wealth upwards, thus exacerbating the already vulgar and dangerous situation (‘Employers back calls for new SSIA savings scheme in a bid to stop economy overheating’, Irish Independent, February 27).

But where is the surprise in that? After all, all they are doing is looking after the interests of their own, and as usual, under the pretence that they are concerned for the common good.

Jim O’Sullivan

Rathedmond, Sligo

Pope Francis cannot blame Satan for sins of the Church

While Pope Francis warned before the Vatican meeting on clerical sex abuse not to have high expectations as to its outcome the result, unfortunately for the future credibility of the Church, was most disappointing.

Pope Francis cannot conveniently blame an outside agency like ‘Satan’ as being the malignant force responsible for this global Church evil. This is an outdated, theologically dubious way of avoiding moral responsibility adopted by successive Catholic leaders to shift responsibility away from their own failure in not confronting this criminal behaviour which has been festering and known about at the top level for many years.

There is an urgent need now to explain in human and scientific terms how and why clerical sex abuse has become so endemic; scapegoating Satan is not acceptable.

Brendan Butler

Malahide, Co Dublin

Does an ancient Roman have the answer for Brexit worries?

The Roman philosopher Seneca said: “We all suffer more from imagination than reality, it’s always worse in your head than it is in real life.” Will we awake on April 1 with a smile and wonder what all the worry was about when it comes to Brexit?